ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ­— Nathan Eovaldi struck out eight in seven shutout innings, Corey Seager homered, and the Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Wednesday.

Eovaldi scattered four hits and walked one, throwing 103 pitches. After going 5-0 during the Rangers’ postseason run to last year’s World Series title, the 34-year-old right-hander has allowed two runs over 13 innings in his first two starts this season.

Eovaldi had a dominating splitter and recorded a personal-best 23 swings and misses.

“I felt like I had really good feel right out of the gate,” Eovaldi said. “Trying to attack these guys inside. They’re really aggressive out there.”

Eovaldi is 3-0 with an 0.46 ERA in last his three starts against the Rays, including the postseason.

“He seems to dial it up against us,” Rays Manager Kevin Cash said. “He had great stuff today. Just kind of gives us fits.”

Seager broke a scoreless tie with a leadoff homer in the sixth off Aaron Civale (1-1). Josh Smith added a two-run single during a three-run ninth against Garrett Cleavinger.

GUARDIANS 8, MARINERS 0: Logan Allen scattered four hits over 6 2/3 shutout innings, Steven Kwan had three hits and scored three times in his first three at-bats, and Cleveland won at Seattle.

The Guardians continued to thump opposing pitchers, battering Seattle starter George Kirby for a career-high eight earned runs.

Allen (2-0) gave up J.P. Crawford’s infield single leading off the first inning, then didn’t allow another hit until Ty France’s single with two outs in the fourth.

INTERLEAGUE

YANKEES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 5: Aaron Judge hit his first home run of the season and added an RBI double in a two-run 11th inning as New York completed an opening 6-1 trip.

Alex Verdugo broke a 2-2 tie in the 10th with his first Yankees home run, a two-run drive off Kevin Ginkel. Arizona tied the score in the bottom half off Clay Holmes (1-0), helped by shortstop Anthony Volpe’s throwing error.

With runners at the corners in the 11th following Gleyber Torres’ single, Scott McGough (0-1) balked in the go-ahead run when he failed to come to a set position with Juan Soto at the plate. After Soto flied out, Judge lined a double for a two-run lead.

TWINS 7, BREWERS 3: Jackson Chourio became the youngest player in six years to hit a home run, but it wasn’t enough for visiting Milwaukee, as Ryan Jeffers hit a tie-breaking three-run homer to cap a five-run seventh inning for Minnesota.

Chourio led off the fifth by connecting with Daniel Duarte’s 1-1 slider for a 402-foot drive. At 20 years, 23 days, Chourio is the youngest player to homer since Juan Soto in 2018.

Rhys Hoskins also went deep for the Brewers, who lost for the first time after a 4-0 start.

Minnesota’s Alex Kiriloff went 4 for 4 with two singles, a double and a triple. Jeffers had four RBI.

ANGELS 10, MARLINS 2: Taylor Ward homered, Nolan Schanuel extended his career-starting consecutive on-base streak to 35 games, and Los Angeles won at Miami, which had its first winless seven-game homestand and is off to the worst start in franchise history.

Angels starter Patrick Sandoval struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings, limiting the Marlins to two runs and four hits.

Ward was 3 for 5 with two RBI. Zach Neto had two hits and two RBI.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PADRES 3, CARDINALS 2: Kyle Higashioka caught two runners stealing and homered in the same inning to help Joe Musgrove and host San Diego avoid a three-game sweep against St. Louis.

Musgrove (1-1) held the Cardinals to one run and five hits in six innings, with seven strikeouts and one walk.

NOTES

RANGERS: Third baseman Josh Jung will miss eight to 10 weeks after having surgery on his broken right wrist.

Jung originally was projected to miss about six weeks, but the team said the operation in Phoenix was more complicated than expected.

Jung was hurt when he was hit by a pitch from Tampa Bay reliever Phil Maton on a swinging strike in the ninth inning of the Rangers’ 9-3 win on Monday night. He hit .266 with 23 home runs and a .781 OPS last season, finishing fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting despite missing time because of a broken left thumb. He batted .308 with an .867 OPS in the postseason for the World Series champions.

METS: With injuries and bad weather draining their rotation already, the New York Mets agreed to a contract with veteran starter Julio Teheran.

Teheran, 33, gets a $2.5 million salary on a one-year contract and can earn another $450,000 in performance bonuses.

BREWERS: Milwaukee reliever Trevor Megill has was placed on the seven-day concussion list after he passed out and hit his head on the ground while recovering from an apparent case of food poisoning.

The Brewers recalled right-hander JB Bukauskas from Triple-A Nashville to fill Megill’s spot on the roster.

YANKEES: During his time with the Boston Red Sox, Alex Verdugo frequently played with several gaudy chains bouncing around his neck. He packs at least six for every trip, and he’s lost count of how many he owns.

In his first season with the famously clean-cut New York Yankees, Verdugo has been given an order by Manager Aaron Boone: only one chain per game.

“It’s kind of been hard, man,” Verdugo said. “Because usually I’m used to wearing like three of four.”

Verdugo looks like a new man with New York, stripped of all but one diamond-studded necklace so far this season and also missing his signature ginger beard. The Yankees have a strict appearance policy put in place by owner George Steinbrenner in 1976 that, among other things, limits hair length and bans facial hair besides mustaches. The policy has been criticized in recent years, including by former players Andrew McCutchen and Cameron Maybin, for limiting the ways players can express themselves.

After being traded from Boston to New York in December, Verdugo is playing ball with the policy. He wore the same necklace for each game in New York’s season-opening series against the Houston Astros. The chain is modest by his standards, with square-shaped, diamond-covered pieces that cost him about $15,000.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Bills trade wide receiver Stefon Diggs to Texans

Next »

College roundup: UMF throwing duo earns NAC weekly awards